In Which
by wickeddominatrix
Summary: In Which Beck and Jade fight, snort, smile, become a bit too cheesy, and love each other more than ever.
1. In Which

In Which Beck and Jade Find Themselves In a Familiar Situation For The First Time.

* * *

Beck _loved _Jade. Jade _loved _Beck. It was a given at Hollywood Arts Middle; no matter what crazy nonsense happened, you could always count on one thing: Jade and Beck's unfaltering love.

It was oddly comforting for the school. To always know some things just never change, like popcorn always being better with butter. It was one of _those _things.

And HAM, (which Cat Valentine always laughed at - "HAM? Ham? Ahaha, geddit? Aha.") found themselves in a limbo when Jade leaves Beck for the first time. With or without love, Jade and Beck _worked_. So when, in 8th grade, Jade leaves for the first time, no one knew what to think.

Rumors flew around on why.

"I heard it was 'cause Beck is moving back to Canada."

"Someone told me it was because Jade cut up all of Beck's jeans with scissors. She's such a freak."

"Oh my god, but I heard she attacked his dad!"

No matter why, no matter what, no matter how, it was done. Girls fought endlessly over the fluffy-haired boy, and boys were suddenly a lot more _available_, if you get the drift.

* * *

Cat Valentine is the only person in the world who knows why. Not even Beck knows why Jade could have ever possibly left him. She'll never say, but Jade doesn't feel, well, _good _enough for Beck. Cat, when she thinks of this, laughs. Jadey? Not good enough? HAH!

Jade wasn't pleased with the laughter.

"Three things, Cat, my name is NOT Jadey. Two, I do NOT appreciate the humor at my fears; and three, it's true! I'm not good enough for Mister-Perfect-Hair-And-Smile-And-Body-And... I want him back!

* * *

When Jade West cried, Cat cried. Jade was her best friend, and she couldn't ever imagine a world where Jade couldn't be enough for someone. Sure, she could be a little lazy, and crude, and maybe a bit morbid or a tiny bit inconsiderate, but she was the best! You couldn't someone who was best over Jade West! Cat then laughed. Best and West rhymed! Maybe she'd think about being a poet...

* * *

Beck didn't know what to feel. He, well, missed Jade's snarky remarks and rude comments.

Was he not good enough for her? He knew it. He was too annoying and clingy and sometimes he got angry with her. Or maybe it was the time he messed up her coffee order. _Two sugars_, he berated himself. Or maybe it was the time he didn't kiss her after school?

His mind was in overdrive, and he didn't like it one bit.

* * *

So, on a lunch break, Cat devised a plan. She named it the _Cat Is Stuck, And Jade Loves Beck _plan. All she needed was a rope, Sinjin, and Rex to tell the tale...

"Beck! Ooh, man, you gotta see this! Cat's stuck on a rope, and oh man, this is good stuff. I have to videotape this...," laughed Rex, while Robbie's eyebrows creased in worry and fear for the ditzy girl.

"What? Is she okay!?" Beck went into older protective brother mode. "Where? Where!?"

"The old stage room," replied Robbie.

"Okay, okay, okay!"

* * *

Jade reacted a bit less kind. "Did you videotape it and put it on the Slap yet?" She asked lazily, her hand waving around.

"That's what I said!" Said Rex.

Robbie glared at the two. "Guys! Cat is stuck on a rope, and you want to humiliate her? She needs to be cut down, not made fun of! And last time I was in there, there was a niiice pair of black scissors-"

"Where is she?" Asked Jade, sitting up quickly.

"The old stage."

* * *

Beck felt awkward. He wasn't used to the feeling, but when your best friend is stuck on a rope, your ex has a pair of sharp scissors, and some weird guy named Sinjin won't stop staring a bit too interested at Jade, who wouldn't be? (Although he knew the poor guy didn't even have a chance.)

In conclusion: Beck was uncomfortable, jealous, and sad,

Cat sighed, apparently, waiting for something, _anything_, to happen.

Jade looked around, her lips slightly pursed and all Beck thought about was how much he wanted to kiss her, right then. He was hurt by her seemingly unbothered by his presence.

The raven-haired girl huffed. "Well? Is someone gonna get her down or?"

Beck was testy. "YOU have the scissors! YOU cut her down!"

"Ugh. You're lazy."

Cat sighed for the second time of what seemed like an endless night of sighs. Her plan wasn't working... She'd have to change it.

Cat began crying.

Jade jumped, and gapped. "No, Cat, I'll get you down! Don't cry! We'll - I'll - get you down!"

"No! Nooo," sobbed the red-head.

"Then what's wrong, Cat?" Asked Beck.

"You guys ne-e-ed to get back," - hiccup, - "together. You guys are so sa-a-d without each other!"

Jade glanced at her shoes. "Who said that?"

Beck took a look at her. "Jade? I'm... sorry. I miss you. And whatever I did..." He didn't get a chance to finish before her lips stole his every word.


	2. In Which Beck Is A Hero

In Which Beck Is A Hero and Jade Is Not

.

Sometimes people are born and they are heroes. They are kind and they are the ones whom people look up to. Sometimes, there is no reason. There is no story, no life, no tragic ending inspiring them to be who they are. Sometimes... they just are. These heroes keep our men strong, our women safe, our children wild.

And then there is the lonely. They are the angry and the sad; the bad. Keep in mind for these people, no one is born a villain. No one is born alone; they always have a story, keeping it locked up, as it is the only thing that keeps the stars inside their eyes and the and the fury inside them from fading.

Sometimes they are just too rugged for lovers, and they wait patiently for a hero, who may never come.

.

Beck Oliver was a hero. People loved him in way they didn't love themselves, in ways they couldn't love others. He was charming and alive. So very, very, very _alive_. He loved anything and anyone; he was the happiest person and you could feel it. He felt a need to fix the unfixable.

Perhaps that's why they met.

Oh, Jade West was the opposite. She was all bad, and all cruel; or so it seemed. The raven-haired beauty had a pull on you, grabbed your attention, held you. When you made her smile, you felt special. When she laughed for you, you swore the world stopped under the spell that was Jade. It really and truly did.

But broken people always did.

.

Sometimes people are heroes. Sometimes they are not. When he saw her for the first time, he thought she was beautiful. Her eyes were porcelain, and they hid so much from him that he was intrigued, curiosity sparked. She was lonely and sad, and he just had to fix her. It was his one fatal flaw, one that would bring him down. Her eyes were the most tragic thing he'd ever seen. Ever known.

And you two fight. You fight and you live for those fights. You live for the fire inside her words and the life flaring in her movements. You guessed at one point she was a dancer. At one point hurt.

You used to say to her, that you would make her love him. Just one date, just one. She sneered and you would pretend it didn't hurt. That her constant rejections didn't hurt; but after a while you went home and you cried, and you'll never admit it but that girl broke your heart. And she wasn't yours. Yet.

.

She called him late December in the middle of the night and he fell in love with her breath which Beck could hear from the silent thoughts they shared while they listened to each other's breath. In and out. In and out.

They spoke a couple of sentences, and Beck couldn't help but write them down. '_Jade_?'

'_Who else would it be? A dog? Of course it's Jade. You have my number saved, from the amount of texts I get from you,' _she said sarcastically.

Beck smiled. '_I'll pick you up at one'o'clock tomorrow._'

The next words she said were exposed and if Beck hadn't studied her for so long, he wouldn't even had noticed. '_Don't forget me_.'

Like he could ever forget her.

.

Beck picked her up at 1:01, and Jade was irritated. She met Beck at the front gate and told her to get in the car. He tilted his head. '_Don't you want me to meet your family?'_

'_No_.'

'_Where do you want to go, then...?'_

'_The beach_.'

Beck gapped. It was the middle of winter! _'It's December_.'

'_And_?'

She kicked her feet and so they went. Beck wouldn't be able to forget her if he died. Which, with a girl like her, he doubted he ever would.

.

Beckremembers their first kiss. It was all heat and all lust but so full of love, he literally felt his heart go into his chest and he was ready to explode because he was with her, and she was the only flame he needed to keep going and no one could take her away.

After they broke apart, Jade stared with startled eyes and slipped backwards. '_I-I should go.'_

'_No. Don't leave me.'' _He didn't want her to go. _'Please_.'

Her lips dropped opened and as if she couldn't breathe, she nodded, eyes wide, and heartbroken. She fell asleep in your arms that night and you whispered poetry into her ears as she slept.

You loved her. You did.

.

She wakes up and her bold makeup has faded a bit, and the last night's kiss rushes back and Beck smiles.

Beck makes a fatal mistake. '_I love you_.'

Jade inhales, and forgets to exhale for a moment. _'I don't think you know what you're talking about. Love doesn't exist for girls like me.'_

.

All of a sudden, Beck forgets to breathe. She's saying it, he's hearing it, she's pausing and then the words kick in but by that time, the phone call is over. Beck licks his lips and their first kiss is still there.


	3. In Which Beck Is No Fool

In Which Beck Is No Fool

* * *

(And she was the lit end of a cigarette; smoldering and burning; bad for you and when she burned out, she was on the street, under your feet, littering - yet you cannot say - the ground, and you still light her up.)

* * *

Beck Oliver is no fool. It's the one thing of a million things he can say he's not. He's stupid and lazy, and mean, and emotionless, heartless, cruel, and all the things he hides to avoid being alone - alone. _Alone_.

(monophobia, _fear of being alone_.)

Sometimes, in the night, he wakes up and its the parting of Jade's lips that eases him. At these times, he doesn't even want to kiss her. He wants to watch her talk, and maybe sometimes he'd like to never reply, to never reply to her as the flow of words spill over her lips, and her hands move the air around them in fluid movements. She was a earthquake, shattering hearts and breaking down walls. She was so absolutely wrong in every single _fucking_ way.

He loved her. Beck loved her rare, shocking, heart stoppingly beautiful smile. Oh, Jade is beautiful, isn't she? Her hair has sunshine in it and she kisses with her perfect pout, and when her lips curve over a wine glass, Beck fell so much harder. And he is good, and she is bad, but sometimes this doesn't matter. Sometimes you have to let that go and take it and want it and love it. Beck was young and foolish and she was beautiful. She was beautiful and he loved her.

* * *

Jade is the falling star in a world where stars are gone because of light pollution, and he captured that exploding star in a photograph but it set on fire and Beck lost it and life isn't supposed to end this way. She is death to him but yet he still find himself humming her name and whispering her favorite song. He still remember waking up and braiding her hair and loving her. He'll fall asleep writing poetry in her hand that he forget the next day but it's the thought that counts right?

Jade West. Jade West, Jade West. Jade fucking West. Oh, god, she was so beautiful. Sometimes, when he was alone, he tried remember her eyes and found that, even though our imagination is so endless, he could not recreate the blues in her eyes. Her eyes were a shimmery blue, and light sky blue, and sometimes he can't possibly believe that such perfect eyes couldn't be fake.

* * *

Beck always comes back to this girl with sparks in her eyes, and stars on her nails. She is real. She is tomorrow. Always tomorrow. Always. Because every promise, every single one, leads to the next day.

* * *

Jade once whispered words to him in the middle of the night - or the morning, he couldn't possibly care - and it broke his heart all over again. _I locked up my memories and I gave you the key, Beck, oh I did, and I know you'll never give it back, and Beck - Beck - Beck, don't leave me, please._

Beck couldn't imagine willingly walking away from her. From Jade, Jade - Jade... who kissed with more passion than anything in the world, Jade who cried when she sweats, Jade who hates the ocean, Jade, Jade - _Jade_.

* * *

Beck supposes that's why he met her.

(Because she was a cigarette and he was simply a lighter. Maybe that's why she kissed him back. Because he was simply a lighter and she needed the fuse. Maybe she was too used to being lonely.)


	4. In Which Jade Regrets

In Which Jade Regrets

* * *

"DON'T YOU FUCKING GET IT, BECK OLIVER? I NEVER FUCKING LOVED YOU. YOU MEANT NOTHING. NOTHING. DO YOU HEAR ME NOW? YOU MEAN NOTHING TO ME AND FUCK WHAT YOU THINK - YOU NEVER LOVED ME EITHER. THERE IS NO WE. THERE IS NO US. NOTHING."

"You don't mean that. I know you don't, god dammit. I meant something." Jade got up in her boyfriend's face.

"You don't know anything."

Beck's logical façade slipped. "Don't say that. I know everything there is to know about you! I know when you first got your scissors obsession, and I know that freckle on your lip is the damn cutest thing I have ever seen, and I know you. I do, I do, I do! I fucking mattered to you."

She exhaled sharply, out of control, in a flame that not even Beck could control. She bit her lip, veering off of anger and into fury. "You know the key word in that sentence, Beck? Mattered."

Beck's eyes widened and no longer could he breathe. Jade stepped away, her eyes burning, her lungs not taking in the air needed to survive. (Although Jade wasn't sure she wanted to.)

* * *

Jade showed up at Cat's, not crying, because she was Jade West, and damn it all, Jade West didn't cry. Cat opened the door, and Cat knew today was a day. "What happened, Jade? Are you guys fighting again?"

Jade's mouth opened, then shut, and all of a sudden, her heart pounded. "I told him he didn't matter, Cat." And then she shook her head clear. He didn't, he didn't, he didn't.

"Jade...," Cat's voice trails off and then Jade's holding her hand, so tightly it hurts, but Cat wouldn't say a word to her broken friend.

Jade stood, her body no longer shaking. "I should go."

* * *

Jade didn't cry. She wrote. She wrote scripts of which a lover leaves a lover, which they always do, and then she's grateful. It's been hours, and he hasn't called anything off. Maybe she could fix this... no, he was just waiting for his attack. Maybe he'd break up with her in front of all his friends, all the cheerleaders; just to rub it in. Oh, look at me Jade, I'm a star, I'm popular, people look at me in ways they'll never look at you with. Look, Jade, look at what you gave up. Don't you miss me? Jade, Jade, Jade...

And then she's gone, and she's at her car, and she's shaking and she's grabbing her keys. _Beck, Beck, Beck_.

* * *

"Beck!?"

Beck's head snapped up. Jade? "Yes?"

The door kicked open and Beck inhaled. "Jade. I'm so sorry about..."

"You meant... mean, a lot to me, and I - I think I love you, Beck Oliver. I'm so so so so sorry about what I said; you have to believe me. My pride is destroyed right now, and my heart is shattered, and damn it, we haven't even broke up, yet, so why am I freaking out..." Jade pulls at her hair and Beck's heart has stopped, but that's okay, because here she is and she's sorry and she loves him and suddenly it's all okay again.

"I love you so much."

(And then they were Beck and Jade. Because she was Jade and he was Beck and nothing but _and_ was between them.)


	5. In Which Jade And Beck Meet

In Which Jade And Beck Meet

* * *

Picture this: it's sixth grade and they just made it to class. Jade in the side; Beck in the other side toward the back. Of course, as Hollywood Arts Middle was anything but normal, the teacher is asking odd questions, which barely anyone was listening to, no, they much rather show off their auditions or talents, (which Jade scoffed at, because all of them were gonna be kicked out in no time at all.)

"Alright, now, kids! What's cooler than being cool?" asked the teacher, with a grin on his face, expecting no answer.

And then it came, a lone voice, from the back of the room; "I am."

Jade looked over; this was an interesting plot twist. She quickly took him, and immediately judged him. Too cool, too casual, too cocky.

She believed in three things at this point in her life. Love didn't exist, hate happens at first sight, and she was better than the rest. (Little did she know, she would be disproved, over, and over, and over.)

Beck Oliver noticed the silence. "What? I was only stating the truth," he said, with a quirk of his eyebrows.

Jade tilted her head. "Guess what, 'cool guy,' no one cares."

People's lips curved, and whispers were thrown about the room. What else was gonna happen? Jade West and Beck Oliver in a fight? Two of the most powerful kids in the school...

They suppose that was the start. The endless insults and the dirty stares across the classroom, to the extent where they couldn't get work done. Jade felt herself getting angrier at the smirk crossing his face every time she retorted.

If there was anymore tension between the two, the school might have exploded.

* * *

Beck believed in three things: love was powerful, hate was a strong emotion, and he couldn't possibly be as good as he wanted to think. And that day in class, he added a new idea, new belief. _Love happens at first sight_. Or word. Whichever happens first.

The dark-haired girl head turns the the side. "Guess what, 'cool guy,' no one cares," she declares boldly, and suddenly Beck is surprised.

He's _Beck Oliver_. Everyone thinks he's cool. Everyone either loves him or wants to be him. He's the guy everyone knows, everyone likes. And then there's this girl, and he replies, coolly, (because when isn't he cool?) that, of course people care, thank you very much.

He fell in love with her snarl, and while she didn't reply, he still knows she won.

* * *

"Andre? Hey, what do you know about," - he gestured to a lone figure in the cafeteria - "her?" Andre looks around, and spots the girl his friend is looking at; Jade West.

Andre gives a little shudder as though pushing away fear. "Jade West? What do you want with Jade West. She's crazy, dude, like a basket case. You know those serial killers you see on TV but don't think really exist; yup, that's her."

Beck's eyebrows push together; "She can't possibly be that bad... can she?"

"If she was any worse, they'd have her in a jail." Andre is done with the topic and quickly moves on to the new girl, Cat Valentine. "Like, she's pretty and all but a little too spacey for me, y'know..." But his voice is slowly trailing off, and Beck isn't even listening as he wonders about Jade, whom everyone seems so scared off. What could be so bad about her?

(He didn't know much he would be disproved.)

* * *

Jade was beautiful. Is, Beck corrected himself. She is beautiful when he gets her all riled up, and she is beautiful when she is writing a script or acting, or even figuring out math problems, but Beck always found her to be most beautiful when she's yelling at him.

The fire in her eyes, and the flare of her nostrils excited him. The harsh words made him tingly not upset; and the clench of her fists made him just smile more. He loved infuriating her, and then one day it hit him. He had to take this girl on a date. So he asked her, not counting the fact that he'd probably, (did,) get slapped in the face. But he didn't mind.


End file.
